The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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U-M only earned five of the week- end's six points, and Berenson was in no mood for revelry after his team allowed 10 goals to a Wisconsin team that came into the weekend at Yost Ice Arena averaging just 2.33 goals per game. "It's the worst defensive weekend I can ever remember," said Berenson, who is in his 32nd season at Michi- gan. "I told our players we had to put it behind us, just like a goalie has to put a bad goal behind him, but there have been too many games where we've been unhappy with our goals against this year. "Whether it's g o a l k e e p i n g o r d e f e n s i v e - zone coverage, penalty killing, b a c k - c h e c k i n g , faceoffs, not pick- i n g u p s t i c k s , not picking up t h e m a n e v e n when we have the bodies in the right spot — there are breakdowns in every part of our game, and that's not good enough. "We work on these things every practice, and our players need to do a better job with their focus and awareness for the 30-45 seconds they are on the ice. There can be no letdown." Michigan began the season feeling confident in its goaltending, with a senior and junior returning, and in a defensive corps that brought back juniors Michael Downing, Kevin Lo- han, Sam Piazza and Nolan De Jong (185 combined games played), and sophomores Zach Werenski and Cut- ler Martin (67 games). U-M's biggest question mark was its offense, which said goodbye to Zach Hyman (22 goals), Dylan Lar- kin (15 goals) and Andrew Copp (14 goals), but the Wolverines have thus far been one of the most prolific of- fenses in the country, averaging 4.38 goals per game to rank third nation- ally through Dec. 8. Michigan's defense, meanwhile, has been dreadful, ranking 38th na- tionally while allowing 3.00 goals per contest. " E v e r y t h i n g we thought we knew in the pre- season, it's really become the op- posite," Michi- gan radio analyst Bill Trainor said. "The offensive is- sues, or perceived issues, have been answered. "There is no doubt Michigan can score — in eight of their 13 games they have scored five or more goals. That's incredible. "The defensive concerns have crept back up when before we looked at the roster of guys coming back, the experience in net and just assumed that they would really turn the cor- ner there. "I don't think it's just been the goalies, it's the defensemen making careless passes in their own zone and turning the puck over. It's the forwards not coming back hard on DIGITAL BONUS: CLICK THE ICON TO PLAY OR STOP THE PODCAST Analyst Noah Ruden On Michigan Hockey